Ristorante Rosso
by Nyhne
Summary: While getting himself settled in grad school, Ludwig takes up Gilbert's generous offer of housing and a job at Gil's restaurant, Ristorante Rosso. Except that instead of peaceful bonding time with his older brother, Ludwig has to deal with numerous awkward run-ins with Gil's boyfriend, Roderich, his brother's rowdy friends, and a strangely cheerful Italian art student. GERITA.


This story was in the works for over a year, inspired by a love of a very awkward Ludwig having to make his feelings known to a very sunny Feliciano. GerIta is one of my peripheral ships, so it was a nice change to write them front and center for once. Of course, PruAus is never far behind, and they exist in the fic to mostly make Ludwig's life more difficult (and give him the occasional good advice).

I've honestly loved writing this fic. How nice it is to write something more humorous for a change!

Light warnings for slight/implied sexual content that is purely due to Gil and Roderich, who are honestly the reason the fic is rated T lol

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1

When Gilbert had offered Ludwig to stay with him for a few months in his two bedroom apartment, as well as work at his restaurant while he settled into grad school, Ludwig had been more than grateful. Moving to a new city was hard enough without having to worry about finding housing and a job. And, since Gilbert had moved halfway across the country two years ago, Ludwig hardly ever saw his brother beyond Christmastime—living with him for a few months seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the older Beilschmidt more.

Except that instead of seeing Gilbert more, Ludwig was currently seeing more of Gilbert's boyfriend, Roderich. A lot more of Roderich than he'd ever wanted to see, in fact.

"Oh, Ludwig!"

Roderich had walked into the kitchen about five minutes prior, wearing nothing but an oversized shirt of Gilbert's and his glasses. Apparently the brunet hadn't seen Ludwig standing in the living room, several bags of heavy books in hand and a steady blush growing on his face, until he'd finished pouring a cup of coffee and turned around, the cup in his hand jerking and spilling over his shirt. Roderich quickly set the mug down, a furious blush blooming across his own cheeks as he made several attempts to make himself decent.

"What are you—Gilbert hadn't told me you would be arriving so _early_ —"

"Um," Ludwig managed to articulate before the door behind him banged against the wall and Ludwig's older brother shouldered his way into the foyer, several large boxes stacked in his arms.

"Jesus, Lutz, what the hell do you have in these things? Rocks?" the white-haired male grumbled before struggling to dump the boxes untidily on the couch.

Ludwig wanted to protest the (mis)treatment of his personal belongings, but Gilbert was already standing and dusting his hands off. He turned around and finally took notice of the two other occupants in the room, Ludwig's eyes steadfastly pointed anywhere but the kitchen. His eyes then focused the fresh coffee stain on the front of Roderich's shirt.

"You got coffee on my favorite shirt," he complained.

Ludwig swore he saw a vein on Roderich's forehead bulge.

"Gilbert," the other man said, voice a little forced behind the polite tone. "You neglected to inform me that your brother would be arriving this morning."

"Oh yeah," Gilbert blinked. "Sorry, babe."

Ludwig resisted the urge to smack a hand to his forehead, already beginning to regret Gilbert's offer of free housing. He should have taken his chances with the rigged housing prices the university sponsored—at least then he wouldn't have to deal with his brother's antics, which clearly hadn't changed since the last time he'd seen him.

Gilbert had sauntered over to the kitchen while Ludwig was mulling over his regret, the white-haired male pulling Roderich closer in pretense of looking at the spill on his shirt. He clicked his tongue tuttingly, holding out the affected area in a way that revealed way more of Roderich than Ludwig had ever wanted to see while the brunet continued to sputter flusteredly over Ludwig's unexpected arrival.

Ludwig slapped a hand over his eyes, his groan muffled. Why had he ever thought that any good would come of his brother's offer?

2

The restaurant Gilbert managed was surprisingly nice. It was actually _much_ nicer than Ludwig had expected and so he mentioned as much to his brother once they walked in for work the following day.

Gilbert turned to him with a mock-hurt expression on his face. "Lutz! I can't believe you would have such a low opinion of your own brother," he said in a wounded voice, one hand over his heart.

Ludwig fumbled a bit. "I did not mean it like that," he protested. "It is just that you are still rather young…it seems unusual that they'd entrust a highly-regarded restaurant to someone your age."

Gilbert snorted and led them to the back of the restaurant, waving a hand in greeting to one of the cooks that had just gotten in as well. "I'm thirty-two, Lutz, and it's not like I haven't done this sort of thing before. You seem to be forgetting that your big brother was the fucking best BA student in his class— _and_ the best fucking assistant manager this restaurant has ever seen, so ha! You can go suck it."

"You might be thirty-two but you have the maturity level of an eighteen year old," Ludwig muttered under his breath, wondering how the restaurant staff handled his brother's vulgar personality.

"What was that?" Gilbert responded distractedly, unlocking an office tucked into the back of the building.

It was a nice space. The dark mahogany wood matched the aesthetic of the rest of the restaurant, and Gilbert had kept the office surprisingly neat and simple. Of course, Ludwig wasn't surprised, as he knew his sibling was as much of a neat freak as he was. But he was surprised to see a framed picture of Gilbert, him, and their parents sitting on the desk. He picked it up with a frown.

"You still have this?"

Gilbert shrugged, moving past Ludwig to take a seat in front of the desktop monitor. "It's one of the only pictures we have of the four of us together."

Ludwig scrutinized the photograph further. Their parents had split when Ludwig was six and Gilbert sixteen. He didn't remember much of the separation, but he knew Gilbert still blamed their mother for how things had turned out. It honestly caught Ludwig off-guard that Gilbert kept a picture of the whole family at work.

He wanted to ask Gilbert about it more, but before he could, the other had turned away from the desktop and was pushing papers across the desk towards him. "Just read over these and sign at the bottom," he said, handing Ludwig a pen.

Ludwig frowned, knowing his brother was avoiding talking about the subject any further, but decided it wasn't the right time to discuss their family's disputes. He traced his eyes over the words on the paper, reading each line of text thoroughly. When he reached the bottom, he carefully signed his name and handed the papers back to Gilbert, who re-straightened them and slipped them into a folder.

"All right," the older grinned, standing up. "Now you're officially an employee of Awesome Me—"

Whatever narcissistic phrase that was about to come out of his brother's mouth was interrupted by a quick knock at the door. Before either could react, the door swung open and a cheery, tanned face popped in through the crack.

"Hola, Gil! Toris told me you were in, so I just thought I'd stop by and—oh, sorry! I didn't realize you were with someone."

The newcomer's eyes went wide with realization once he saw Ludwig standing next to the desk awkwardly. He looked like he was about to close the door in haste when Gilbert said, "Tony! You motherfucker! Where've you been—I haven't seen you in ages!"

The other man—Tony, Ludwig assumed—visibly relaxed at the greeting, an enormous grin spreading across his face. Ludwig had never seen whiter teeth.

"Apologies, my friend. Work has been keeping me busy. You're not the only one I provide for, you know."

"You cheating bastard."

Tony laughed, and then turned his radiant smile in Ludwig's direction. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"Nah, man, this is my younger brother, Ludwig. Remember I told you he'd be working for me for a few months? He just moved into my place yesterday," Gilbert introduced them with a nod of his head.

"Oh!" Tony's eyes brightened. " _Ludwig!_ Gilbert has told me so much about you. I hope he hasn't been too mean to you already!"

"I carried his boxes of rocks up like six flights of stairs! If anyone's been abused so far, it's me!" Gilbert groused.

"Um, hello," Ludwig said, feeling a bit awkward as he stuck out a hand to shake. Tony returned it with the same amount of enthusiasm he had in his smile.

Gilbert continued on. "Lutz, this is Antonio. Tony, Lutz. Tony owns the flower shop down the block and supplies us with the table decorations. Jesus, that sounds gay just saying it out loud. Get a real job, man."

Ludwig resisted the urge to slap a hand to his face again, but if Gilbert had said anything offensive, apparently Antonio hadn't been phased by it because he simply shook Ludwig's hand again, practically bouncing on his heels.

"It's so good to finally meet you!" the brunet enthused, shaking with both of his hands and looking over Ludwig in a way that was beginning to make him feel self-conscious. "Gilbert's always talking about you—Francis and I were beginning to wonder if you actually existed!"

"Yes, er, it's good to meet you as well. I apologize if my brother's said anything offensive, that's just how he is," Ludwig muttered, with a long-suffering tone to his words.

"Don't worry about it!" Antonio beamed. "Gil says stuff like that all the time, and besides, he's the one who's dating that _chica bonita_ of a man. Ay! No wonder Roderich turned Gil gay!"

Images of the other day surfaced in Ludwig's mind and he covered his reddening face while Gilbert waggled a finger at the other. "Hey! I was interested in dick long before Roddy came around. It just so happened that Roddy made me _exclusively_ interested in dick. There's a difference."

If Ludwig felt like changing his name and moving to a different country, then Antonio hardly seemed to be affected by Gilbert's crudeness, simply raising his hands with a little shrug. "Ay, man, whatever you say," the Spaniard replied. Then, noticing the youngest member of the room's mortified expression, "Qué pasa?"

Gilbert glanced over in his sibling's direction and waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about him, Tony. He's just easily embarrassed like that. He has what my Roddy calls 'propriety.'"

"Ohhh," Antonio's eyes went wide and he nodded understandingly. He turned to Ludwig then and put a finger to his own lips, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Hmm, you know, I think Feli might be your age—in case you get tired of hanging around us older men," he winked. "Gil, you remember Feli, right? Chiara's little brother?"

Gilbert let out a snort without much subtlety. "You mean the little twerp attending art school down the street? The kid still owes me for last week's meal."

Antonio bobbed his head obliviously. "Exactamente, that's him! I should introduce you two, he can show you around the city!"

Ludwig didn't really know what to say so he nodded, hoping his facial expression didn't look as awkward as he felt. "Er, thanks, that would be…good," he answered lamely.

"Bueno!" Antonio cheered.

A small beeping sound came from someone's watch and Antonio's eyes widened. "Mierda, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Gil, and Ludwig, it was nice to meet you finally. I'll send Feli over here the next time I see him. Adiós!"

Antonio waved as he walked through the door, Gilbert shouting after him, "Only send Feli if he's going to _pay_!"

And before Ludwig could even quite register what he'd gotten himself into, Gilbert was throwing a black apron at him, the uniform hitting him square in the face.

"You start tomorrow. Don't be late!" his brother cackled.

3

Ludwig somehow managed to get through the first week without: a) throttling his brother, whose ultimate goal it seemed was to embarrass Ludwig in front of _everyone_ he knew, b) having any more awkward run-ins with Roderich, who still turned slightly pink whenever they saw each other, or c) meeting the so-called 'Feli' Antonio had mentioned from the beginning of the week.

Ludwig didn't actually care about point c so much, but the more he worked at the restaurant, the more he came to understand that Feli—or Feliciano—had a reputation with a capital R amongst the staff of _Ristorante Rosso_.

Nobody had anything particularly bad to say about the young artist, but as Toris, the restaurant sous chef nervously admitted, he didn't always pay.

When Ludwig asked Gilbert why he kept letting the art student in, his brother simply waved a hand and snorted in dismissal. "He's a nice kid," was all he said.

But it wasn't until Monday that Ludwig finally understood what everybody meant.

Mondays were particularly slow at the restaurant. They didn't open until 11, and even their usual lunch rush only saw half of its typical volume. Ludwig had contented himself with making sure all the napkins were folded correctly, his mind straying to when classes would start and he could have something other than this boring monotony to keep him occupied. He hardly even noticed when a new customer entered the restaurant. He only snapped back into reality when he heard his name being mentioned by their hostess, Lili, who stated that Ludwig would be their server.

With a little breath of reluctance, Ludwig made his way to the other side of the room, his mind barely registering the head of soft, auburn hair sitting at the table.

"Welcome to _Ristorante Rosso_ , my name is Ludwig and I will be your ser—"

" _You're_ Ludwig?" a voice interrupted in awe.

Ludwig blinked out of his monotonous tone and for the first time since walking over, actually looked down at the young man sitting at the table. Two large, golden doe eyes stared back up at him.

"Er…yes?" Ludwig stumbled, blankly wondering if he was supposed to recognize the other.

The young man's eyes brightened considerably. "Ohhhhh!" he drew out the sound. "I'm Feliciano! Or you can just call me Feli—everybody does—Antonio was telling me about you last week. He said you're Gilbert's brother? Gil is so nice, he lets me eat here for free!"

"Hey, I never said free!" Gilbert's voice interrupted from behind the drinks counter, his older brother walking over with a large grin on his face. He winked in Ludwig's direction. "Careful, Lutz, Feli's a manipulative one when he wants to be," he smirked, resting his arm on top of Feliciano's head.

Ludwig glanced around at the handful of other restaurant patrons self-consciously. "Um," he said.

"Ciao, Gil!" Feliciano all but shouted, not even seeming to notice the arm on his head as he burst out of his seat and greeted Gilbert with an enthusiastic hug and two kisses on his cheeks. Ludwig was starting to feel rather lost.

"Wowww, I've never met your brother before. He looks so big and strong! Just like you! Do you guys work out together? Or, wait, Antonio said he just moved here. Oh, wow, is he living with you, then? What about Roderich? Has he met Ludwig yet? You two don't look very similar for brothers—oh, except for your jaws, you have the same jawlines! Wow, you two are both so handsome, I'm so jealous!"

"So, Feli," Gilbert cut in smoothly (although he certainly didn't seem to mind the showering of compliments), "Lutz is gonna be staying with me for a while until he gets his bearings at school. Antonio had the brilliant idea for once in his life that you could show Lutz here around since he's new to the city. Sound good?"

"Only, um, if you want to—I'm sure you are busy with school, too," Ludwig added a bit self-consciously. He wasn't sure why his brother and Antonio were so insistent on giving him a _tour guide_.

But Feliciano hardly seemed to need the encouragement. "Of course I'd love to!" his eyes practically sparkled at Ludwig. "We could go to the art museum and the sculpture park—oh, wait, you like museums, don't you, Ludwig? I like art museums but I think history museums are kinda boring. Oh, but I mean if you like them that's okay, too!"

"Uh—"

"Perfect!" Gilbert grinned, looping an arm around Ludwig instead. "I knew I'd be leaving my baby brother in good hands."

Ludwig wasn't so sure.

4

Feliciano was already late to their first "city tour."

Ludwig fidgeted and checked his phone again. The other had texted him saying he would be a "little late." But what Ludwig had taken to be five or so minutes after the hour, had now turned into almost half an hour of Ludwig awkwardly standing in front of the public library by himself.

He wondered if he should just give up and assume Feliciano wasn't going to show. It was starting to get a little overcast, and the daycare lady trying to organize her unruly group of three year olds kept shooting him suspicious looks.

Just as Ludwig cleared his throat and braced himself for walking all the way back to Gilbert's apartment by himself (and hopefully the older Beilschmidt wouldn't be there so he could avoid the awkward conversation of why he was coming back just an hour later…) a full head of soft auburn hair popped up in front of him.

"Ludwig, hi!"

Ludwig actually jerked back in surprise, his face immediately heating up on reflex. Feliciano's big brown eyes stared up at him enthusiastically. Quite literally, as there was at least a good six inches height difference between them.

"Uh…."

"Sorry I'm late!" Feliciano immediately began. "I thought I had left on time, but then I took the wrong bus and this nice old lady helped me out and then I found out she was Italian, too! So we ended up talking and then I accidentally missed the bus again and—"

Ludwig was already feeling terribly out of his depths, but Feliciano chattered on as if he wasn't talking to a block of concrete. From the corner of his eye he could see the daycare lady giving him another accusing stare and he tried to send her a helpless look in reply.

"It's, um, okay…" he finally got out, and Feliciano broke out of recounting his story about playing with stray cats in Italy (Ludwig wasn't quite sure how the conversation had gotten there) to beam at him, extra wide.

"Yay! I knew you wouldn't be mad at me—you seem too nice to get mad, even if Gilbert says that you're a bit of a square!"

Fantastic.

The "tour" took them all over the city, Feliciano leading him around like an excited dog off his leash for the first time. It wasn't a very _practical_ tour, but Ludwig did learn important things such as Felicano's favorite place to flirt with women (the fountain, inside the park), and which restaurant had the most authentic Italian food for bringing girls on dates ("Oh, but don't tell Mario from Carmine's that I said that—he always gives me free gelato!").

Ludwig also learned quite a bit about Feliciano himself, who was finishing his last year of undergrad late because he had spent the year before college travelling around and meeting all sorts of new people. Apparently it had also been to give him inspiration for his fashion design degree, which Feliciano wanted to use to bring everyone in the world together with a fashion line for all types.

"Oh, um…" Ludwig said upon finding out Feliciano was a fashion major. He looked at Feliciano's outfit, which consisted of brick red pants, a teal v-neck, and a cardigan tied over his shoulders despite the fact that it was nearly eighty degrees out, and tried to think of something that wouldn't make him sound so fashionably challenged. "Did you, um, make your outfit yourself?" he asked.

Feliciano immediately burst into a fit of giggles. "Of course not, silly!"

Ludwig blushed bright red and wondered if going back to his brother's apartment an hour early was such a bad option after all. He'd lived through twenty-two years of Gilbert's torment already—what was a little humiliation more?

While Ludwig contemplated his self-pitying options, Feliciano finally finished giggling at him and instead offered a sunny smile. "But if you want, I can show you some of my sketches later! Usually I have my sketchbook with me, but since we were going to be walking around so much today I didn't want to get tired carrying it and then have to stop every ten minutes and have you get mad at me on our very first tour—but I'll show you the next time I'm in the restaurant, okay?"

Ludwig was beginning to realize that Feliciano had the special talent of saying both everything and nothing at all. He wasn't quite sure how the other managed it, but slowly he was starting to get used to it. He tried shaping his mouth into what he hoped was a normal smile.

"That, er, would be nice," he replied.

Feliciano's smile brightened another fifty kilowatts.

5

Antonio visited the restaurant the next day. Ludwig was not usually working when the Spaniard dropped in to discuss business with Gilbert (which more often than not devolved into a full hour of mindless chatter) or deliver arrangements personally, but Tino had called in sick that morning and so Gilbert had asked if he could cover the early shift.

Although it was only ten in the morning, Ludwig had to stifle a yawn behind his hand as he folded a batch of freshly-laundered napkins. As he folded, he thought back to his previous day spent with Feliciano. For all the exhaustive energy the other possessed, it hadn't been a horrible way to spend the day, and Feliciano was, without a doubt, friendly.

Antonio had been right on guessing that Ludwig would appreciate having someone else his age he could be around. Not that his brother's crude sense of humor couldn't substitute for an entire class of college (high school, really) freshmen boys on any given day, but Ludwig had been starting to feel like a bit like the odd man out with only Gilbert and Roderich for company.

And despite his extraordinary ability to babble on about absolutely nothing, Feliciano did make for a pleasant companion. Ludwig wasn't quite sure how to explain it, but there was a part of him that just felt _comfortable_ around the other, even if they had only met twice now and he never had much to say by way of conversation.

But Feliciano must've had that ability to make anybody feel comfortable around him. Everybody the auburn-haired male met, Feliciano was instantly laughing and smiling with them. Ludwig almost felt a little jealous of the other's ability.

He was so deep in his own thoughts of the previous day that he didn't notice the bent figure peering curiously in through the restaurant windows before entering, a radiant smile already on their face.

"Ludwig! What a pleasant surprise! I don't usually see you here this early." Antonio immediately scampered over to the table Ludwig was working at, the Spaniard pulling him into a quick side hug before the blond could even so much as have the chance to react.

"Uh," Ludwig replied intelligibly.

"Is Gil in? I need to talk to him about some business matters for next week. Boring stuff and all that, you know." Antonio carried on, seemingly undeterred by Ludwig's lack of reply. Or, perhaps the other was just used to it by now.

"Er, I think Gil is still on the phone with the restaurant owner. He should be done in the next ten minutes," he finished checking his watch.

"Oh, bueno! I'll just wait for him to finish," Antonio responded cheerily, already pulling out the chair next to Ludwig. Ludwig sent a reluctant look to his unfinished pile of napkins. "So Ludwig!" Antonio chirped, "Feli told me you two went all around the city yesterday! I told you Feli was a good tour guide, huh?" he winked.

Ludwig fumbled for an answer. "Oh, um, yes, we, er, did."

Sometimes, Ludwig questioned if he really had any right to be going to law school.

Thankfully, Antonio was ever the most forgiving of conversation partners and he carried on without missing a beat, his green eyes wide with excitement. "Excellent!" he enthused. "Feli was so happy when he came over for dinner—he wouldn't stop talking about how friendly you are. He said you even complimented his outfit that day!"

Ludwig could feel his cheeks burn bright red. He could still remember that exact moment and Feliciano's fit of giggles over his attempt at pleasantries. Had his awkward attempt at a compliment really meant that much to the other?

"Sí—" Antonio was continuing, "Chiara and I have been so worried for the boy, he's been so down since the thing with their grandfather, so it was nice to see him smiling again. Summer classes can get so _lonely_ , you know, with everyone gone for the summer."

"Lonely?" Ludwig somehow caught onto the word amidst the Spaniard's rambling, his eyebrows immediately pulling together. Although he hadn't known the other for long, Feliciano had seemed like the happiest person in the world—lonely didn't seem to fit in with Ludwig's perception of him. "What do you mean by that?"

Antonio blinked, glancing up at Ludwig like he'd almost forgotten the other was there. "Oh," he said, "I guess that's right, I forgot that you are new here—"

" _Tony, you fucker! Why didn't anybody tell me you were here!_ "

As well timed as ever, Gilbert's voice cut through whatever Antonio had been about to say and jerked Ludwig out of his investigation. A painfully exaggerated slap met his shoulder as Gilbert came to stand beside him.

"Lutz, was that your job to tell me? If you slip up again, I'll fire you!" Gilbert broke into cackles at his own joke before exchanging high-fives with Antonio. "How long have you been waiting out here, man? Come in, come in, I gotta talk to you about next week's deliveries…."

And like a whirlwind, both his brother and Antonio were walking back to Gilbert's office, Antonio offering a little wave of goodbye and leaving Ludwig with a whole new set of questions unanswered.

6

Ludwig waited until later that night to ask Gilbert about what Antonio had meant. It was just after dinner, Roderich graciously clearing away the plates and piling them in the sink as Gilbert had been the one to cook that night.

Gilbert already had a report in front of him, the pen in his hand switching between tapping on the table and having its end nibbled on while the other male was thinking. Roderich had started washing the dishes, the sound of the faucet running filling the otherwise silent apartment. Ludwig shifted in his seat and tried to figure out how to break it.

"Gil…" he began.

"Hm?" Gilbert grunted, not yet looking up from his paperwork or twitching his pen.

Ludwig fidgeted nervously and tried to persevere. "Uh, earlier today, when I was talking to Antonio…—"

Gilbert snorted. "If Tony told you about last year's Halloween party, then don't believe him Lutz. That wall was about to go anyway and it's not _my_ fault the table's legs gave out when I jumped on it—"

"Uh…" Ludwig stared.

" _That_ 's why I came in to find you unconscious in a pile of rubble?" Roderich's voice cut in accusingly. "Gil, you told me someone had pushed you!"

"Well, uh, _pushed_ me to do it as in they bet I couldn't do a believable impression of Tom Jones…."

"I left you alone for all of ten minutes and that's what you get into without me! Honestly, it's like I'm dating a teenage boy—"

"Wouldn't that make _you_ the bad guy in this scenario, if you're the one fucking a minor?"

" _Gilbert_ —"

"Um," Ludwig tried again.

"Oh, right," Gilbert turned away from Roderich's lethal glare and quirked an eyebrow. "You were saying, Lutz?"

Ludwig pinched at the bridge of his nose and breathed out hard before trying again. "Earlier today, when I was talking to Antonio, he mentioned something about Feliciano being lonely and then said _'I forgot that you are new here'_ when I asked about it. Do you know what he was talking about? He said that he and Chiara are worried about him."

Gilbert had finally put his pen down and exchanged a look with Roderich, who Ludwig then realized had stopped washing dishes since he'd first mentioned Feliciano's name. Ludwig's lips slanted into a frown and he looked between them. "What?" he asked.

"Lutz…" Gilbert began hesitantly, his voice adopting the _"you'll understand when you're older"_ tone he used to use when Ludwig was still a kid. Ludwig immediately grew suspicious. "Feli's a great kid, but there's a lot of stuff you don't understand yet. I'm sure that—"

"What do you mean I 'don't understand yet'?" Ludwig cut in. He could feel the childhood defiance of whenever Gilbert would use that tone on him bubbling up again. He was twenty-two, for Christ's sake. "Why don't you just tell me, Gil?"

Gilbert's eyes acquired the spark of annoyance they always got when Ludwig spoke back against him. It seemed the years hadn't changed much after all. " _Look_ , Lutz," he began hotly before Roderich suddenly cut in between them, the brunet laying a hand on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Perhaps," Roderich said, meeting Ludwig's gaze firmly, "it would be best if Feliciano told you himself. The matter is his to tell, after all."

Ludwig still felt suspicious, but Roderich's cool, authoritative gaze told him that the matter was clearly settled for the night. But he vowed that the next time he saw either Antonio or Feliciano, he would get to the bottom of whatever this was.

7

An entire week passed without further answers about Feliciano. Gilbert seemed to have gotten over whatever stint he and Ludwig had gotten into over dinner and had returned to his normal, inappropriate self—though Ludwig wasn't blind enough to notice that his older sibling avoided any mention of the subject. It didn't help that Antonio was absent for the entire week, leaving Ludwig without answers there—and the one time he saw Feliciano at the restaurant, Ludwig couldn't bring himself to ask.

After all, what did one say when they were snooping around someone they barely knew's life?

Ludwig had steeled himself to ask when he saw the other sitting at his usual spot, but as soon as he approached the table, he had felt as if his entire mouth had run dry and all the words had escaped him. Feliciano, completely innocent to the investigation happening behind his back, had looked up at him with his big brown eyes wide with concern and asked, "Is everything alright, Ludwig?"

The blond had never considered himself weak-willed, but in that moment he simply couldn't bring himself to ask. It bothered him almost as greatly as the mystery itself, although he didn't blame Feliciano for it. Especially since he had the feeling that not all was at it seemed with the cheerful art student.

But if anything was troubling the auburn-haired male he had yet to show it, and after showing Ludwig his entire sketchbook of clothing ideas just like he'd promised, he'd run off (literally) in a babbling rush to catch the bus for his class.

8

Before Ludwig knew it, an entire month had passed.

Fall beginnings were in the air as schools got ready to open their doors and university students dragged their belongings back to campus with a mixture of groans and excitement for the impending semester.

Now that summer courses were over, Ludwig thought he would see Feliciano around a lot more, but the brunet remained strangely absent for the entire first half of August. When he asked Antonio about it, the Spaniard answered that Feliciano was on his yearly trip to Italy before school began. Ludwig wasn't quite sure if he believed it, given everything else surrounding the art student, but two weeks later, Feliciano was back, practically bubbling with energy and looking a fair shade or two darker than their mild, north Midwestern weather.

But Ludwig had his own schooling to worry about, now that classes were starting. Even though he was only a four years older than the university freshmen eager to start classes and make new friends, he couldn't help but feel a significant degree of separation from them as a grad school student.

The gradudate school—and the law school in particular—had no such Welcome Week festivities planned, and so Ludwig's first week of school started with less of a celebration, and more of an enormous pile of readings assigned from all of his classes. Gilbert had cut back his hours to accommodate his new academic workload and Ludwig mostly worked the mid shifts before his evening classes. It was a fine schedule…except that it meant he usually missed Feliciano's before-class lunch time during the week.

At first, Ludwig tried to convince himself that he'd hardly notice, given that he was busy with his own classes, and work, and he and Feli weren't all that close anyway. But after two weeks of not seeing the bubbly Italian, Ludwig was forced to admit to himself that he missed having Feliciano around.

It wasn't just that Feliciano brought a positive presence to Ludwig's (otherwise) mundane days. The way Feli greeted him with genuine enthusiasm every time, no matter how awkward or stiff he had been the last time they'd met, that did something to Ludwig's…well, he wasn't a med student by any means, but Ludwig was pretty sure that his heart wasn't supposed to beat that fast just at the mere _sight_ of someone.

Ludwig felt hopelessly out of his depths.

Even normally enjoyable news, like his Friday evening classes getting cancelled, were beginning to feel uninspiring with nothing to do. So after another shift of no Feli, Ludwig decided to simply head home and hopefully spend a quiet evening (it wasn't brooding, he told himself) back at the apartment. Except that of course, living with his brother wouldn't allow for such niceties.

"Um," Ludwig said, staring at the scene he'd just walked into in his brother's bedroom.

Roderich looked up from his book unhurriedly and then _re_ -looked up from his book so fast that Ludwig (again, still not a med student) was sure the other would strain something. The book he had been reading leaped out of his hands on of its own accord and plopped to the floor like a dead bird. A deep red blush was rapidly taking over the brunet's face.

"Ludwig!" Roderich exclaimed, a bit shrilly. Both of their eyes flickered down to the awkward heap of a novel on the ground and nervously, as if on reflex, Roderich began to reach down to pick it up…only to be caught by the handcuff still attached to his bed post and end up jerking back against the headboard with another unflattering yelp.

Ludwig's brain finally caught up with him enough to send him spinning heel in the other direction, a hand covering his eyes in a mixture of habit and mortification. Just _why_ his brother's boyfriend was reading while handcuffed naked to the bed was beyond him, but Ludwig really, _really_ didn't want to know.

"Ludwig-!" Roderich tried again, although his voice was still an octave higher than normal. Ludwig heard him clear his throat hastily. "You're, um, home earlier than expected. Didn't you have evening classes today?"

"They were cancelled." Ludwig didn't know where to put his eyes, even though he was turned the other way. This was by far worse than when he'd first moved in. Why, oh _why_ hadn't he found his own place yet?!

"I see…" Roderich coughed awkwardly. "Your brother—" he began before the apartment door banged open and predictable as ever, Gilbert's cockiness announced itself to the entire flat.

" _Hope you're ready to go the entire evening, Roddy baby, because I just cleared the drugstore of its entire shelf of extra large—_ oh, Ludwig."

Gilbert at least had the decency to look somewhat surprised to see Ludwig standing in the hallway, fingers pressed extra hard into his eyeballs in the hopes that he'd go blind forever. "Why did I agree to live with you, again?" the blond groaned.

"Now I went all the way to CVS for nothing," Gilbert complained. "Why'd you have to choose today of all days to impress your big bro and skip class?"

Ludwig made enough of a peephole through his fingers to glare in his brother's direction. "My class was cancelled," he defended.

"Oh," Gilbert said, and then shrugged. "Well, uh, how about you give us twenty minutes and then—"

" _Gilbert_ ," Ludwig cut in exasperatedly at the same time Roderich practically screeched the other's name in mortification. "Would you cut it out? I don't feel like dealing with this right now," he mumbled, to which his sibling's appearance immediately changed.

"Hey…Lutz, everything all right there?" Gilbert asked in concern. "You've been off this entire week."

"I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled.

"It's about Feliciano, isn't it?" Roderich suddenly piped up from behind him. Despite his completely ridiculous situation, the other male's eyebrows were furrowed in worry. Ludwig groaned again and wondered how he, of all people, had gotten himself into this situation. He'd lived a honorable life; atoned for (most) of his sins.

"Oh, um, yes," Roderich seemed to realize that he was still handcuffed to the bed the same moment Ludwig did. " _Gil_ ," he cleared his throat, giving the other a pointed look that mostly said _I'm going to kill you for this later._

"Right," Gilbert blinked. "Sorry, babe." He crossed the room quickly and began fiddling with the cuffs while Ludwig continued to hide his face in shame.

"Now Ludwig," he heard Roderich's voice behind him, though he couldn't face the other quite yet. There was some rustling and short arguing as Roderich—Ludwig hoped—found his clothes and forced Gilbert to put things back in order. "You know that your little _problem_ with Feliciano isn't going to go away unless you actually talk to him—"

"Aw, c'mon, Roddy," Gilbert cut in obnoxiously, "talk ain't gonna do anything. Less talking, more action, I say! Especially with a kid like Feli."

"I'm sure the last thing your brother needs is any advice from _you_ , Gilbert."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Some subtlety wouldn't kill anyone. Especially you, you moron. Maybe you could try it someday—"

"Hey! I'm _plenty_ subtle!"

"Oh, and am I supposed to take the start of our relationship as an example?"

"That was subtle! That was _master_ subtle. Just because pricks like you don't appreciate my subtle ways—"

Ludwig pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes until he saw stars. "You two are only making this worse!" he groaned. "Besides, I do not have a…a ' _little problem_ ' with Feliciano."

Ludwig knew that his own body had betrayed him and his statement nullified as soon as he felt his cheeks heating up bright red. In front of him, Roderich and Gilbert exchanged a look. Ludwig almost hated that more than coming in on a naked Roderich chained to the bed.

"I just…" he gave in, muttering, "I don't understand why everyone is being so secretive about his situation. And…. _And I mightmissseeinghimattherestaurant_."

Gilbert and Roderich connected eyes again. "I knew it." Gilbert said triumphantly.

Roderich's expression switched to annoyance. "We _both_ knew it, idiot," he corrected.

Gilbert ignored him. "Lutz, you're a great guy. I know this because I practically raised you myself and I'm a great guy. And I know for a fact that Feli likes you, but if you want to know more about him, you're gonna have to chase after him yourself. Waiting on him to show up isn't going do you any good."

"But…" Ludwig worried, "what if he _has_ been avoiding me, Gil? He knows that I don't work the morning shifts. Wouldn't he…try and come in at a different time if he really wanted to see me?"

His brother shrugged. "Feli can get lost in his own head sometimes. It doesn't mean that he doesn't like you; it just means that he's off doing whatever Feli does best and probably doesn't even notice that he's accidentally ignoring others. It's just like Roddy when he's working on a new piece for the symphony. The best thing for _you_ to do now, is to just go to him yourself. I'm sure Antonio has his address at school."

Ludwig slowly looked up at the suggestion and found both Gilbert and Roderich staring at him with encouraging expressions.

"I'm serious, Lutz," Gilbert spoke up again. "If Feli means something to you, then go after him. Us Beilschmidts can kinda suck when it comes to romance—you can ask mom about that," he snorted. "So when you find someone you actually care about, hold onto them."

Gilbert wrapped his arm around Roderich and the brunet squeezed his hand lightly. In that moment, Ludwig was struck with how good his brother's life was—how much Gilbert had grown up since they were kids. For all his joking and other occasional bouts of immaturity, Gilbert had truly made a successful life for himself. A good job…a healthy relationship…—maybe it really was time to give the older Beilschmidt some more credit. Gilbert had been the one to actually raise Ludwig when they were younger, after all.

Ludwig stood up straighter.

"All right," he said. And the turmoil in his stomach blossomed something new.

9

Gilbert had been right, that Antonio would have Feliciano's campus address. The address wasn't exactly _on_ campus, per se, but Feliciano lived in an apartment that was partnered with the school. It actually wasn't that far from some of Ludwig's downtown classes.

Feeling butterflies in his stomach, Ludwig shuffled his feet as he waited for Feliciano to answer his door buzz. The building entrance was down a small side street and hardly any activity was present, besides a mother pushing her two young kids in a stroller. Ludwig tried to give her a reassuring, not-suspicious-at-all smile, but it came out nervous. Thankfully, Feliciano finally answered his ring.

" _Hello?_ "

Feliciano's voice came out scratchy on the old answering system. Ludwig's eyes flickered to the little tag with _VARGAS_ written next to the apartment number just to assure himself it was really Feliciano he was talking to.

"Um, hey. This is, uh, Ludwig."

" _Ludwig?!_ " Feliciano's voice audibly changed pitch with excitement. " _Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Come in! Or, um, come up, I mean. The door's open!_ "

There was the sound of the phone hanging up and then the door buzzer sounded. Ludwig gulped. He took the elevator up to the fifth floor and followed the signs to apartment 517. For a long moment, he stood outside the door, questioning himself over whether this really was the right door. What if it was some stranger's apartment? Maybe it hadn't been a 5, but a 6, and when he knocked some older sweaty overweight man would open the door and—

The door lurched open before Ludwig could make a decision and suddenly it was Feliciano standing there, an enormous smile on his face that almost outshone his bright, amber eyes.

"Ludwig!"

"Um," Ludwig said.

"Oh wow, it really is you! I was worried that I had just imagined the whole conversation because, you know, nobody really 'drops by' anymore since we all have social media, but I think I prefer seeing friends in person you know? I wish more people would just 'drop by' like the old days. Oh, I guess Chiara 'drops by' but she doesn't really count because she's my sister. But anyway, how are you, Ludwig? I'm so happy to see you again!"

Ludwig, per usual, struggled to keep up with the barrage of text flowing from Feli's mouth, just barely catching the tail end of his words. The butterflies in his stomach stirred hopefully. "You-You are?" he managed, surprised.

Feli's smile turned even brighter. "Of course I am! I hadn't seen you at the restaurant for so long, I was wondering if you were okay…."

"You've been looking for me at the restaurant?" Ludwig's expression was genuinely confused.

Feliciano bobbed his head vigorously. "I keep coming at lunch, but you're never there," he said sadly.

Ludwig's cheeks became flustered. "I never work the morning shift. I, um, thought you knew that," he defended weakly.

Feliciano's soft, auburn locks shifted when he tilted his head to the side. "Eh? I thought you always worked in the morning. I guess that explains why I haven't seen you."

Feliciano pondered innocently over the new revelation while Ludwig felt like smacking a hand to his own face. _That_ was why he hadn't seen the other in over a month? All of his fears and anxieties, walking in on Roderich chained to the bed…over a simple…miscommunication?

Maybe they were both idiots.

Another realization hit Ludwig's thoughts. "Why didn't you just ask my brother or Antonio about my shift schedule?" he asked. To his complete surprise, the brunet suddenly looked shy, a light pink dusting his cheeks in an image that totally wasn't just burned into Ludwig's memories forever.

"Oh, um," Feliciano looked abashed. "I guess I just didn't want to bother them, ha ha…" he said, and Ludwig got a strong feeling that it wasn't entirely the truth.

But before he could question it further, the door opposite them slammed open and a very typical sleep-deprived-looking art student with the bushiest eyebrows Ludwig had ever seen glared at them from across the hall.

"Feliciano, how many times do I have to ask you to talk to your friends _in_ your apartment instead of in the goddamn hallway?!" the man griped, speaking in a slightly-dulled British accent.

To his credit, Feliciano hardly seemed phased, merely waving at the other with the same cheery smile he always carried. "Hi Arthur! Sorry, I'll remember next time!" he promised, which Ludwig had a hard time believing.

The man named Arthur grumbled some sort of unintelligible reply in response before shuffling back into his flat and (softly) slamming the door shut behind him. Feliciano turned his beaming smile towards Ludwig, instead. "Do you want to come inside?" he asked.

Ludwig glanced furtively at the shut door behind him. "That, uh, might be for the best."

10

Feliciano's flat was not particularly spacious. The narrow foyer opened up to the only room in the studio, a door on the right side of the hallway leading into what Ludwig assumed was the kitchen.

It shouldn't have surprised him to see that Feliciano lived as messy and unorganized as the run-on sentences he spoke in, but Ludwig still felt his neurotically-neat eye twitch nonetheless. Drawings were scattered across the room, occasionally gathered in loose piles of hundreds of clothing designs. The magnitude at which Feliciano seemed to produce ideas was actually…rather astounding. Every wall in the living room was covered in pinned up concepts and fashion lines, particularly around one corner of the room where Feliciano's sewing machine was set up.

Several mannequins were spaced around the studio, displaying parts of outfits and swaths of fabric. And even to Ludwig, who had about as much fashion sense as a rock, the clothing being displayed was beautiful.

Feliciano shuffled his feet behind him, looking for once, a bit sheepish. "Um, sorry for all the mess…" he said.

Ludwig's eyes stopped sweeping the room and instead turned to the auburn-haired male, who for the first time since Ludwig had met him, seemed to be having trouble making eye contact, a shy demeanor around him. Ludwig felt his own cheeks heat up in response.

"It's all right," he responded awkwardly. "Is this…is this all yours?" he asked, making a hesitant nod towards the dolled up mannequins.

Feliciano seemed to regain some of his usual bounce. "Yeah," he smiled, and he cast an affectionate look over the room. "It's everything from my past three years at school." He then turned to look at Ludwig hopefully. "Do you want to see them?"

With those soft, hopeful doe eyes looking up at him, Ludwig felt like a deer in headlights. Feliciano's emotions were just so open on his face, his amber eyes wide in an anxious sort of eagerness. For a moment, Ludwig forgot how to move his lips.

"I, uh, sure," he finally managed. Feliciano's smile grew from relieved to his normal level of enthusiasm, and he cheered a little before leading them further into the room. Ludwig tried to be careful to not step on any stray tubes of paint lying around.

"Well this collection I started last year and it's meant to be for fall/winter but I think it could be worn in spring, too, if you made some changes…."

And as Feli spoke, Ludwig had a harder and harder time keeping the smile ghosting his face from growing any bigger.

11

"So, um, how was your trip to Italy?"

Ludwig had been working up the nerves to ask Feliciano about his trip for a while since his 'just-stopping-by' had turned into 'hanging-out-for-an-entire-afternoon.' Feliciano had brewed them some strong-tasting coffee from his little Italian moka pot and they were currently sitting in between stacks of art books and drawings on Feliciano's futon.

"Oh," Feliciano said, looking almost surprised that Ludwig had asked. "It was, um, okay. I still have relatives that live in Italy, so it was nice to see family again."

He gave a little smile with his response, but underneath it Ludwig could sense that there was something else that wasn't being said. Past conversations with Antonio and his brother floated up in his head.

"Did…Chiara go as well?" he asked tentatively.

Feliciano shook his head. "No, Chiara usually goes when our grandfather goes. I like going in August because then people are off of work and we can do fun stuff together. It's more fun that way," Feliciano explained, twisting at a bit of hair.

Ludwig wasn't quite sure what to say next, especially given Feli's almost reluctant reply to his questions. As much as he wanted answers, he didn't want to push the other into saying anything that he wasn't comfortable in divulging. He and Feliciano were still rather early in their friendship—the last thing he wanted to do was push the other into not wanting to be friends anymore.

( _Friends_ …right. Roderich's voice saying his 'little problem' with Feliciano came to mind and Ludwig immediately suppressed it again.)

"My…parents died in a car accident when Chiara and I were younger," Feliciano suddenly said, breaking Ludwig out of his thoughts. The blond blinked and looked up, but Feliciano's gaze was turned towards the edge of the couch, a sad smile barely turning his lips. "I don't remember my dad much, but my mom had always been a really happy woman. She got along with everybody she met, and my grandfather used to say that I was just like her when I was younger. He took Chiara and me in, after the accident. My mom's father, I mean."

Feliciano's eyes briefly flickered upwards and for a moment Ludwig felt caught on the other's stare, Feliciano's eyes still wide and innocent, but now no longer looking so naïve.

"Oh…" was the only thing Ludwig could think to say, his mind stumbling in how to respond. But Feliciano only nodded like it had been an acceptable answer and continued.

"My grandfather used to be a really kind man, and a lot of fun to be around. He would sing us songs and he always gave me compliments on my art. But after mom died, he was different. I think mom's death really hurt him….He still took care of us, but he became a lot more serious and he cried and got angry easily. He was always working a lot, and I think he wanted me to take over the business when I got older…but I've wanted to be a fashion designer since I was really little." Feliciano gave a bit of a regretful smile, his eyes then sweeping across his studio bedroom of sketches, fabric, and sewing needles.

"We started getting into a lot of arguments, and after I finished high school, I decided to take a gap year before going to college. I think grandfather only agreed to it because he thought I would get all of my 'childish dreams' out of the way and come back to business school. He thinks art school is a waste of my mom's inheritance money. And…and it does cost a lot of money. I had to take out a lot of loans to go here. But I love it here. So I've got to keep convincing myself that it's worth it."

Feliciano's eyes came back to Ludwig's and this time there was a shine of determination behind them. Ludwig was still slowly putting pieces together but things that had been mentioned in passing, like the loneliness and the free meals, were beginning to make sense. Ludwig couldn't help but start to look at the auburn-haired male in a new light.

"Sorry," Feliciano said softly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Gilbert told me that you had been worried about me." He looked up again, just briefly; shyly—and Ludwig knew that there was pink on both of their cheeks.

"Is…is that why Gil gives you the free meals at the restaurant?" Ludwig finally asked.

A happier smile spread to Feliciano's lips. "Your brother's a really nice person," he said.

And for once, Ludwig could agree.

12

Things went back to normal after Ludwig's conversation with Feliciano in his apartment. Instead of coming late morning, Feliciano began coming to the restaurant during Ludwig's shifts—and Ludwig would be lying if he didn't say it made his days significantly more enjoyable.

Gilbert and Roderich hadn't asked any questions after Ludwig had come back from Feliciano's place, but Ludwig knew that _they_ knew things were better. Not that anything had actually happened between him and Feliciano, of course, but he could only control his brother and his brother's boyfriend so much.

And as much as Ludwig maybe, admittedly, _possibly_ hadacrushonfeliciano, he was content with them just being friends for the time being. Both of them were busy with school, and work (Ludwig had learned that Feliciano had an on-campus job at the bookstore during the school year). There was no need to complicate anything before they had to get there.

Plus, despite Gilbert's constant reminders that _the kid likes you, Lutz, just man up already and ask him out!_ , Ludwig still was not convinced that Feliciano wanted to be anything more than friends with him. In his defense, Feliciano was friendly with _everybody_. And Feliciano had spent the first day of them meeting each other talking about all the places he liked to flirt with women in the city.

So for now, friends it was.

13

The catalyst came about a month later, when Ludwig came back from classes one Friday and Gilbert met him suspiciously quick at the door. (For the manager of a well-rated restaurant, Gilbert sure seemed to have a lot of Fridays off.)

"Hi, Luddie!" his brother greeted cheerfully.

Ludwig immediately grew wary. "What is it, Gil?" he asked.

Gilbert snickered at his deadpanned response and leaned comfortably against the back of the couch. "How about you stay over at a friend's tonight? Roddy and I were, ah, hoping to have the apartment to ourselves this evening. For, y'know—"

Ludwig blanched. "I don't need details, Gil," he interjected before his older sibling could get any more graphic. He'd already seen enough of Gilbert and Roderich's "pastimes" without having to speculate on what _else_ they did together. Ludwig tried not to shudder just thinking about it.

"Great!" Gilbert beamed triumphantly. "So if you need to grab anything before you go—"

"Wait a moment," Ludwig cut in. "I didn't say that I _agreed_ to this—can't you go to Roderich's place? I don't have anywhere else to go, and I am not getting a hotel room for one night." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Gilbert tutted at him like he was explaining something obvious. "All of our stuff is already over here" (Ludwig absolutely did not want to know what that meant) "and anyway, haven't you made any friends in your lawyer school that you can crash with for the night?"

Ludwig felt the back of his neck heat up self-consciously. "No, but it's only been two months since classes started," he tried to defend himself.

"Alright," Gilbert shrugged, and his expression suddenly grew sly. "Then what about asking Feli?"

"Uh…" Ludwig stared at his sibling stupidly.

Gilbert smirked. "Cool," he said, glancing down at his watch. "So let's say you're out of here by, say, nine?"

Ludwig didn't get a chance to respond before his brother was making finger gun motions at him and walking away.

Gilbert didn't even own a watch.

Ludwig had Feliciano's number saved to his phone since the first day they'd met, but he rarely used it since he saw the other at the restaurant so much. Feliciano had texted him a few things here and there, but Ludwig, who was terribly awkward with social media and social interactions in general, usually gave replies that lent themselves to the conversation quickly dying off. Funnily enough, that didn't seem to deter the art student from messaging him again the following day.

But now, as Ludwig stared down at the open messaging screen on his phone, every single step of communicating had seemingly fled his mind. He glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall and groaned. It was already eight-forty and Roderich was supposed to arrive at nine. And the _LAST_ thing Ludwig wanted to do was encounter Roderich in-person before he was (as Gilbert gleefully put it) " _sexiled_."

Taking a deep breath, Ludwig resigned himself to his fate and picked up his phone. He'd go it old school, then.

The phone rang three times before a familiar voice answered.

" _Hello?_ "

"Um, hi, Feliciano. This is Ludwig," Ludwig said, already feeling awkward.

" _Ludwig!_ " Feliciano's voice rose in volume. Ludwig hastily lowered the volume settings on his phone. " _Ciao! How are you? Oh, why are you calling so late? Is everything okay?_ " the Italian's voice turned rapidly worried and Ludwig hurried to insert his own reply.

"No, um, everything's fine. I, um, I am sorry to be asking this so late, but I was wondering if I could, uh, spend the night at your apartment tonight. Gil wanted the apartment and—"

" _Of course you can!_ " Feliciano cut in excitedly. " _You're always welcome to my place! Are you coming over now?_ "

Ludwig rubbed at the back of his neck, a bit confused as to how it had worked out so smoothly. "Um, yes, if that's okay…."

" _Of course it's okay! Just text me when you're downstairs!_ " Ludwig thanked him graciously and Feliciano replied, " _It's not a problem! Say hi to Gil and Roderich for me. See you soon!_ " before hanging up.

Ludwig took a long breath and hid his reddening face behind a hand. Just what was he getting himself into?

After a humiliating retreat from Gilbert's apartment (his brother had made smooching noises at him as he left), Ludwig arrived at Feli's building with a change of clothes and his toothbrush in a bag. Feliciano buzzed him in quickly and for the second time since meeting him, Ludwig found himself standing outside Feliciano's doorstep.

"Ludwig!" Feliciano cheered as soon as he opened the door.

Ludwig smiled awkwardly. "Um, hi," he said. "I'm sorry again to ask this of you so late—" he began but Feli quickly shooshed him with a finger to his lips. A bright blush immediately spread across Ludwig's entire face.

"You don't need to apologize," he said genuinely. "I'm sure you would have done the same thing for me, if I needed it. Even though I live by myself," he added on with a giggle.

Feliciano's finger was still pressed against his lips. Ludwig was pretty sure his entire body was red by that point.

"Um, right," he said, muffled around Feli's finger, and the auburn-haired male laughed before finally pulling his hand away. Ludwig couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed.

Feliciano then ushered them into the studio before his neighbor Arthur could make a reappearance and Ludwig was greeted with the same colorful, chaotic mess he'd seen the last time he was in the other's apartment. A new set of sketches were tacked onto the wall next to the sewing machine, and instead of the blues, greens, and yellows he had seen the last time, rolls of brown, taupe, and plum now filled the tiny studio. The futon was the only sleeping arrangement in the room.

"I can sleep on the floor," Ludwig began to volunteer, but Feliciano quickly shot down the suggestion with a wave of his hand.

"You don't need to sleep on the floor, silly!" he chided. "Just sleep on the bed with me."

Ludwig's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What-!?" he sputtered.

Feliciano looked confused. "Oh…um, I mean if you're not comfortable with that, that's okay, I can sleep on the floor. I just thought since it's a big bed—"

Ludwig hastily tried to amend his reaction. "No, no, I mean—er, no, that's fine. I just, um, sorry, I guess I'm just not used to sharing beds with others…" he trailed off lamely.

The shorter male tilted his head to the side, brows pulled together in what almost seemed to be concern. "But didn't you have sleepovers as a kid?" he asked.

"Uh…" Ludwig said. He'd been a terribly awkward (serious, his brother liked to call it) child.

"Oh," Feliciano said. "That's okay, if you're not comfortable with sharing the bed, I can sleep on the floor—"

"No!" Ludwig said, a bit louder than intended and his face heated up again. "I mean, um, it's fine. I don't mind sharing the bed."

Feliciano's face immediately broke into a large grin. "Yay! Luddie's first sleepover!" he cheered.

Fuck, Ludwig thought.

Despite Ludwig's protests that Feliciano didn't need to play "host" to him, the brunet brought out a bottle of Tuscan wine he'd brought back from Italy and two glasses from the kitchen. Ludwig insisted that " _you really don't need to do this_ " even as Feliciano pushed a bottle opener and the wine into his hands. Feli cheered again when the cork came out with an audible _pop!_

"My aunt Renata gave that to me when I was staying with her and uncle Maurizio in Naples," he quipped. "They always give me the _best_ wines. They also tell me that I'm their favorite nephew!"

Ludwig took a sip and he had to admit, it _was_ good. Even if he was more of a beer person.

They sipped for a few moments in comfortable silence before Feliciano rested his chin on his palm and turned to regard Ludwig curiously. "What's _your_ family like, Ludwig?" he asked. "Other than Gil, I mean."

Ludwig blinked. "My family?" He raked his suddenly blank mind for a reply. "Um, average, I guess. Er, my parents separated when I was six, but other than that…" he trailed off.

Feliciano suddenly looked embarrassed that he'd asked. "Oh," he said. "Sorry, if you don't want to talk about it—"

"It's fine," Ludwig assured him quickly. The only other person he really talked about his family to was Gilbert, and Gilbert tended to have "selective hearing" when it came to the topic. "It, um, didn't really affect me much, but Gilbert still has hurt feelings about it. He and mom don't talk very much anymore."

Feliciano nodded understandingly so Ludwig continued. "Mom had a number of relationships after dad left, but none of them lasted very long. Gilbert likes to tell me that the Beilschmidts have trouble finding good relationships—he didn't start dating seriously until he met Roderich, actually."

"They have such a good relationship, though!" Feliciano said, eyes wide in awe.

Even Ludwig had to nod in agreement. "They argue a lot, but they really are matched well with each other. I am glad to see my brother happy after so many years," he admitted.

"Gil's a really nice guy. He really deserves it," Feliciano smiled encouragingly. "His younger brother is really nice, too."

The slight pink from the wine they were drinking turned into a full-on blush that reached the very tips of Ludwig's ears. He quickly took an unsophisticated gulp of his wine to hide it.

"So, um," he diverted quickly. "You and Chiara seem close."

If Feli noticed the effect his words had on Ludwig he hardly seemed to give any indication of it, merely cocking his head to the side in thought. "We are," he answered after a moment. "Especially since the things that happened with Grandfather. She's the only family I have other than him living in America. We were never very close as children, though. She used to bully me a lot," he said, and then giggled. "But she was also very protective of me, and used to beat up anybody who made fun of my interests in fashion design."

"That's, um, nice I guess," Ludwig offered.

"Yeah," Feliciano smiled softly. "I don't know what I'd do without her. Grandfather and I don't talk very much anymore, so Chiara lets me know when anything happens in the family."

Ludwig could understand that. Sometimes that how he felt with Gilbert and their mother.

"And I'm glad that she's dating Antonio. He's so funny and he makes her laugh more than anybody I've ever known." Feliciano looked up at him then, his smile still there, but with a deeper vein of genuineness to it. "Even if the stuff with Grandfather makes me sad sometimes, I'm happy with the family that I've found here. You all make me happy. _You_ make me happy, Ludwig."

Feliciano's cheeks were pink with the wine they were drinking. The gentle lights of his studio made a halo around his soft auburn hair and put a twinkle in his eyes. When he reached out to hold Ludwig's hand, Ludwig hesitated before curling their fingers together and giving his hand a squeeze. He never wanted to let it go.

14

Things went back to normal after that night.

…Except that they didn't. Now that both Ludwig and Feliciano knew for sure how they felt about each other, things couldn't go back to how they were before. Some patterns stayed the same: Feliciano visited the restaurant on a regular basis and made sure to always sit in Ludwig's section; they talked about work, and fashion, and sometimes about family, but underlying it all there was a important shift in their relationship to each other.

Gilbert and Roderich hadn't asked any questions after Ludwig had come back from Feliciano's place that night (and Ludwig certainly hadn't asked them any questions about their night), but Ludwig knew that _they_ knew things were better.

And as much as Ludwig maybe, possibly, still felt shy to admit it, he was content with finally acknowledging his feelings for Feliciano, and the budding relationship they had growing between them. Both of them were still busy with school, and work, but beyond that they had each other. And there was no need to complicate it any more than that.

Plus, despite Gilbert's constant reminders of _I told you so!_ , Ludwig didn't feel any need to rush what they had; shy, schoolboy dates to the movies and comfortable afternoons spent in campus coffee shops while Ludwig did his readings and Feliciano sketched away away away.

For now, it simply was.

15

Dinner night at the Beilschmidts' started to become a regular occurrence now that Ludwig and Feliciano were officially dating. Feliciano obviously got along with both Gilbert and Roderich, and Gilbert liked the excuse to show off that he wasn't the manager of a highly-rated restaurant for nothing. When their schedules allowed, Antonio and Chiara joined them.

On that particular night they were celebrating the end of the semester for both Ludwig and Feliciano. Ludwig had just finished his first semester as a grad student, and Feliciano, having finished about a week earlier, was on the countdown for his last semester of undergrad. Despite their post-finals exhaustion, there was a lot to celebrate.

"So!" Gilbert said in his best announcer voice, having just unnecessarily tapped on his glass to get the table of six's attention. "Thank you all for coming out tonight, it's been a pleasure to host you at the Beilschmidt-Edelstein household." (Roderich rolled his eyes at the addition.)

"Good to be here, good sir!" Antonio egged him on, followed by Chiara embedding her elbow into his side.

Gilbert tipped his wine glass towards the Spaniard with a wink. "Thank you, Tony. As I was saying, it's a pleasure to have you here tonight as we celebrate my little bro Ludwig and his boyfriend Feliciano's end of another successful semester. Lutz, it was tough, and I gotta admit I had my doubts, but you made it."

A smattering of polite clapping (courtesy of Roderich) and wolf whistles (courtesy of Antonio) accompanied the laud.

"Feli," Gilbert turned his attention to the auburn-haired male. "You've always been a great kid, and I can't think of anyone better to be dating my baby brother. I trust you to take good care of him," he winked, and Feliciano beamed his fifty-kilowatt smile in response.

"May you both have more successful semesters to come and yaddah yaddah yaddah let's just drink already," Gilbert grinned devil's smirk and raised his glass for the toast. Despite mutters of _You're embarrassing me,_ from Roderich and a general feeling of wanting to slap a hand to his own face from Ludwig, every one of them raised their glass in turn, clinking them together with cheers passed between them. Ludwig clinked his glass with Feliciano, who was sitting next to him, last, the two of them sharing a look that didn't need any words.

It had only been a few months since they had started dating, but it already felt like something warm and comfortable between them—homebrewed coffee on a cold day. Come the new year, Ludwig was finally going to move out of his brother's flat (and Roderich, certainly, would be sure to fill the space soon after) and into his new apartment. Maybe, in time, Feliciano would move in with him.

But for now, everything felt where it should be, and as Ludwig looked around the table, he was reminded of something Feliciano had said to him months before about being happy with the family he'd found for himself. A found family.

Feliciano hooked his arm around Ludwig's, even though they were still sitting at the table, and leaned comfortably into his side. Ludwig did a poor job of hiding the smile on his face.

"—you really are getting more reckless in your old age," Roderich was saying to Gilbert, although the brunet's tone was teasing and without much weight behind it.

Gilbert snickered. "Well, you know me," he responded cockily.

"Hey, hey, speaking of," Antonio piped up excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat. "Are you ready for Roma to visit next week? Is the restaurant gonna be ready, or am I going to have to come in and save your zombie ass again?" he giggled.

Ludwig knew that Roma was actual owner of _Ristorante Rosso_ —which had several other sister restaurants in other cities—although he'd never met him. Gilbert had been running on a high wire nearly all week getting ready for the older man's visit.

Chiara elbowed Antonio in the side again and the Spaniard yelped, sticking his lip out as he turned to the other. "What?" he asked

Chiara rolled her eyes and then looked pointedly in Feliciano's direction. Ludwig still felt confused, but everybody else at the table seemed to understand, and Antonio offered a guilty, "Oh, right, perdonami, Feli..."

Feliciano gave the table a reassuring smile. "That's okay, I really don't mind so much anymore," he said genuinely, before Ludwig could cut in and ask what was going on. "I think Grandfather and I have both accepted that this is how it is now."

Ludwig's jaw dropped to the floor.

"…The grandfather you've been telling me about…is the owner of my brother's restaurant?!"

Feliciano, seemingly unperturbed, nodded. "Grandfather Roma owns several restaurants in America. It's the main reason he's not back with the rest of the family in Italy."

"But he—you—" Ludwig stammered, trying to wrap his post-finals-addled brain around what he'd just heard. "Did _you_ know about this?!" he turned to Gilbert instead, who was sitting back, sipping his cranberry cosmo out of a tropical straw like it was any other day.

His sibling raised a brow at him. "That the Godfather—I mean, Feli's grandfather owned _Rosso_? Of course I did, it's one of the reasons I started giving the kid free meals in the first place, after Tony told me. Nothing says 'fuck you' like feeding the hand that had bitten you. Or however the saying goes," he snorted.

Ludwig was still dumbfounded and his jaw was starting to hurt. "And nobody thought to tell me?" he added incredulously.

Gilbert shrugged unhelpfully and Antonio was scratching at his chin, not paying attention. So Ludwig turned to Feliciano. "What are—how do—how do _you_ feel about all of this?" he demanded.

Feliciano gave him a smile like he was trying to stifle a laugh behind it. "I'm okay with it," he assured Ludwig. "Like I said, I think things between Grandfather and I are better now, even if it's not what it used to be. Change happens, and sometimes that's okay."

He reached out and gave Ludwig's hand a comforting squeeze. The action still made Ludwig's heart skip a beat (Ludwig had stopped pondering his medical expertise a long time ago) no matter how many times it was done, but it did help soothe him into accepting this weird new reality.

"Um…okay," he finally said, still looking a little dazed.

Feliciano covered his other hand over his mouth and giggled. "You're so silly, Ludwig," he smiled.

Conversation resumed as normal after that and as the night grew late, their little party of six began to dwindle. Feliciano was the last one to leave, his cheeks rosy from the alcohol and the starlight shining in his golden, doe eyes. When he left, he stood on his tippy toes to give Ludwig a kiss, a small moment that meant worlds to the two of them as they stood in the apartment threshold.

Although Feliciano would leave to his own apartment that night, the warmth of their shared kiss stayed with Ludwig long after he'd turned off his own lights. And as Ludwig reflected on his decision to move halfway across the country and live with his brother and work at _Ristorante Rosso_ —he couldn't find a single thing to regret.

END

* * *

Some additional character notes:

-Gil (32) was a business student and has an MBA; Roderich (33) is a musician who contracts with several different organizations- he sometimes travels for work

-Antonio (29) speaks both Spanish and Italian, but he only really speaks Italian with Chiara (26) because Chiara refuses to learn 'that bastardized version of Italian you spew'

-Gil and Ludwig's parents were never officially married (which is why they still have their mother's surname)

How Gil met and wooed Roderich is its own story that might get posted some day (':

Thank you for reading!


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